TWO friends were seriously injured when a Midland fairground ride turned to horror.

TWO friends were seriously injured when a Midland fairground ride turned to horror.

The women, in their 20s, were on The Orbiter ride last night when their rotating car broke away, dropping 20ft to the ground and disintegrated before spinning into a fast food stall 30ft away.

The screaming women were thrown clear before the car smashed into the stall, suffering neck and back injuries.

An investigation was under way today into the cause of the accident, which happened just before 8pm at Jones's funfair in Great Bridge Road, Bilston.

Fairground owner Harry Jones, who closed the fair as soon as the accident happened, said today he could not comment but his thoughts were with the women and their families.

Sub officer Lee Walker, of Wednesbury fire station, said the women were sharing a car when it became detached, sending them plummeting to the ground before being carried another 30ft.

"The car smashed into a fast food stall, with the women thrown clear just before impact," he said. "The women were badly shaken and suffered neck and back injuries but the incident could have been much worse.

"Fortunately the ride had started only about 20 seconds earlier and was not up to full speed, otherwise they could have been more badly hurt. It was also amazing that no bystanders were hit as the car came away."

Mr Walker said it appeared that the fairground operators were blameless.

"The Health and Safety Executive has been called in. The ride involved is inspected annually and was fully certificated, having been examined only a few weeks ago. It seems this was a freak accident," he said.